Fog, Morehead, Wrightsville Beach, Swamps and Georgetown

This Tuesday morning we awoke to pea soup fog.  As one of our neighboring boaters said, "This must remind you of Maine!"  Georgetown, ME to Georgetown, SC! Maybe we brought it with us? There was some clearing after a three hour delay in our departure, but we still needed our radar, chart plotter, compass and some intense concentration once we got out of the Harbor.  Many times our radar picked up another boat or navigational mark long before we were able to see anything,.  After 5 miles of cautious travel, the sun broke through, and we were able to speed up on our way to Charleston, SC.

During the delay, we were able to gather our thoughts on our travels since we left historic Bath, NC.  Increasingly, we are seeing pelicans and eagles along the waterway. The cormorants sit on every available piling and the herons, both blue and white, line the shore. We have also seen a few porpoises or dolphins, not sure which. All along the coastal Carolinas, fishing is clearly the number one pastime, with boats of all sizes equipped with rods, lookout stations and special chairs for reeling in big tuna. 

Friday, Veterans' Day, we arrived in Morehead, NC, across the bay from its sister city, Beaufort, NC.  We much enjoyed Morehead with its renovated waterfront, quaint bungalows and friendly people.  Upon a local's recommendation, we had dinner at the Ruddy Duck and weren't disappointed.

I was not too happy with Bill on our bike ride to the grocery store.  He took a turn behind me, and the next thing I knew, he had disappeared.  In addition, he had my phone so there was no way to communicate.  He has his side of the story, but after waiting 10 minutes in the middle of the street with no sign of him,  I pedaled back to the boat.  I had cooled down a bit by the time he returned with the groceries in tow.




The next section of the Intracoastal Waterway has had much shoaling, or sand build up, due to Hurricane Matthew.  On two occasions we passed sailboats aground in the marked channel as they waited Boat US Towing or SeaTow, the water equivalent of AAA.  They likely needed 6 feet of water and the channel depth had been 10 feet or more prior to the hurricane.  We also passed the 15 mile border of Camp Lejuene, where Bill's brother, John, trained years ago for the Marines.



Wrightsville Beach

First deep in the ocean since
the Maine summer.

Wrightville Beach house,
raised up for storms

We anchored off the city dock at Wrightsville Beach, one of North Carolina's major beach resorts.  We motored ashore in our dinghy and walked the beach and some of the streets.  The ocean was  deliciously warm by Maine standards. 

Wrightsville Beach is a nice community with most of the houses raised up above ground level garages because of the constant threat of flooding and high tides.  I wish we had taken a picture of one of the utility poles that showed the height of Hurricane Matthew's water line above our heads.

Swamp off Waccamaw River

The next day started out with sun but quickly changed to cold rain.  After a long day on the ICW we anchored in a remote location on the Waccamaw River in South Carolina.  The narrow river is lined with Cyprus swamps on both sides and gave us the feeling of being on the set of Deliverance. Just before dark, I read in the marine guide that the occasional alligator is seen in this river.

Typical house in Georgetown

The next day we arrived in Georgetown, SC. We stayed at a nice marina and were able to walk around the town.  We saw a number of  historic buildings that survived the Civil War. The trees in these photos are live oaks, which I can only describe as elegant and magnificent.


Live Oak trees line the streets.



With my handmade doll

Georgetown was the center of the rice industry prior to the Civil War.  Rice, and to a lesser extent, indigo, fueled the local economy.  Rice farming was incredibly back breaking work and was dependent upon slave labor.  We toured the Rice Museum and our tour guide, Zenobia, a descendant of one of these slaves.  We found it interesting that she focused on the plantation owners and spoke little of the lives of the slaves.  We learned that in preparing the rice fields, the Cyprus swamps were first cut and burned and then canals dug by hand.  Each canal began with an adjustable dike to allow the water level to be controlled.  While rivers like the Waccamaw are impacted by tides, the fields are far enough up river so that only fresh water was on the rice fields.  Zenobia is an accomplished artisan, and I purchased one of her handmade dolls.

Old canal dike, one of the few left

Today, we motored past many of the old rice fields. The winding rivers and canals that we travelled today were perhaps the most beautiful stretch of the trip, so far. Because the land is so flat, its beauty is hard to capture with a camera. In this picture one can see one of the old dikes for a canal.





Now we are anchored off Charleston, and we look forward to going ashore tomorrow.